31/12/2022
I recently got back from a very short trip to France on a public French water roughly 2 hours from calais!
Arriving at the lake Friday morning before first light and grabbing a couple of hours sleep in the van I was soon ready to get fishing and after finding what seemed to be a very large number of fish fizzing and feeding at the entrance of a no fishing zone I knew I was in the right place.
Whilst setting up, several fish started boshing out at the back of the no fishing zone and my suspicions were confirmed. With a 2 rod rule on the lake and no bait boats allowed I decided to set up my left hand rod cast roughly 20 yards off the entrance of the bay over a spread of boilie where the majority of the fizzing was, and then the second rod much tighter to the entrance of the bay, but due to the overhanging trees in the peg this was not a spot that could be cast to and therefore the Captor baiting pole came into its own letting me access a spot that wouldn't normally be accessible without a baiting pole. This rod was shipped out towards a big snaggy sunken tree fishing over a tightly baited area of boilie and heavily glugged pellet with a 12mm pink plum and caproic pop up over the top.
It wasn't long before this rod kicked into life and we were away with the first fish, a low 20 mirror and we were off a blank. This was short lived however within 5 mins of getting the rod back out it was away again with a much bigger fish that took me down into the no fishing zone and through a set of pads. After a hairy battle under the rod tips up popped a new PB at 44lb 2oz making the trip definitely worth while.
The bites continued steadily and consistently throughout the 48hr session with 19 bites in total landing all 19. 17 of these falling to the right hand rod using the baiting pole. With the majority of the lake fishing very slow and the lake only doing 1 fish the previous week I was more than made up with the result and the fish I had and it made the long drive home much more bearable!
Shout out to Wez for this awesome bit of kit!
A few of my tips and tricks to help you when using the baiting pole would be as follows;
1. This may seem obvious and simple but feed the line out of the spoon to whichever side your rod is at and make sure you tip your spoon the same way. So if your rod is on your left, have the line coming out of the spoon on the left hand side of the pole and when you get to the spot tip the spoon to the left
2. I always like to make sure my hook point is covered with either PVA foam nuggets or a small PVA mesh stick. This prevents your hook point from catching on anything on the lake bed as your lead settles on the bottom and also from catching any pieces of loose feed in your spoon
3. Always try to have as many sections pre made up on the bank before shipping the pole out. For example I like to try and get 4 or 5 sections already made up behind me in the peg if there is enough room and then this means when shipping the pole out you don't have to make as many connections whilst shipping it out and then when bringing it back in you don't have to break it down section by section you can break it down every 4th or 5th section (or long is you have the room)
4. Have the pole pointing directly at the spot before shipping it out. Making it much easier to hit the spot without having to try and bend and manipulate the pole when it's half way out to the spot
5. If it is windy and the pole starts to veer off to the side, use your rod to straighten the pole. Keep your line tight to the spoon with your lead in it and direct the spoon with your rod tip
6. I always like to use as heavier lead as possible when using the pole. As you aren't casting and making any disturbance you can get away with using a 5oz flat pear lead (or heavier) This will help set the hook better and also allows you to fish marginal shelves easier
7. Once you have found a spot and happy it is presentable and clean, I always drop my rig and lead on a slack line, therefore you get no swing back with your lead on a tight line and your rig will fall directly in the centre of your loose feed. Coupling this with a semi stiff or stiff hook link section and PVA foam nuggets you know your rig will kick away from your lead and you will be presented perfectly every time
8. Once you have dropped your rig on the spot, leave the spoon in position and it gives you something to aim for with your loose feed if you wanted to catapult a few free offerings around your hookbait
Rob Gainer
